DIY- ‘In This House We Do’ Sign

I found this sign while perusing through my friends Pinterest boards (it’s where all the good stuff is), good thing they’re my friends, otherwise it would be considered blog stalking, except for that it’s on Pinterest, so it’s not technically a blog, anyhoo….

I clicked it, I pinned it and I instantly fell in love with it. You can see the original inspiration piece here. It’s available to purchase from this sweet little Etsy shop, for a pretty penny; but after making it, I see why. Most projects worth doing take some time and effort. And unfortunately my time that becomes available to me is after 10, and at that point my effort is nowhere to be found.

Anyhoo, enough chit-chat, on to the nitty-gritty details of the project:

I randomly decided that I HAD to make something one Saturday afternoon or I would burst, or spend an inappropriate amount of money online. I was perusing through the goody pile in the garage (which consists of wood scraps and miscellaneous objects from earlier projects). And I eyed these pieces that once served as the beams to our window well covers. A little over two years ago they had become too rotted to be considered safe (especially with two young children toddling around the yard). So when my husband replaced them with newer, fresher, ‘won’t snap with the weight of a small child underneath’ planks I salvaged these and insisted that we hang on to them, because I was sure to find an amazing way to re-purpose them.

And two years later I did.

After I laid out the boards in the correct, ‘this looks perfectly equally distressed’ order, my hubby decided to indulge me and cut out backing using bead board we had leftover from our little hall bath redo, which you can see here.

He’s such an overachiever, pfff, engineers and their measuring.

After cutting the bead board down to the correct size, he used a staple gun to apply the bead board to the back to hold it all ‘together’.

*VERY IMPORTANT* This was completelyUNSUCCESSFUL. The staples were just not strong enough to keep it all together. Those boards were very substantial.

So he opted to use a good ol’ fashioned hammer and nails to keep it all contained.

It worked like a charm.

After he made sure it was good and sturdy, he attached the screws and picture frame wire to hang it from. It took several strands of wire (3 to be exact) to make it strong enough to hang it from the wall. He tried one wire-and it snapped like a thin piece of wire trying to hold up a lot of wood. Thankfully, it wasn’t on the wall yet.

I did not document painting the words on because I was in the zone and could not be moved. But I used two different sizes of oil paper stencils I purchased from Hobby Lobby (3 and 4 in.) and used a small sponge brush and paint that was left over from painting the fireplace to paint each letter into place.

And just to keep it honest-it took me a while-like somewhere between 4-5 hours to stencil those words on. I’m not really a perfectionist, so I was trying especially hard to keep it all straight and evenly spaced. That A- type behavior is a step forward for me and my ‘I’ll use anything to paint with if a paintbrush isn’t within arms length’ compulsive nature.

And here it is in all it’s weathered, distressed, family love glory.

I wasn’t able to fit all the ‘rules’ from the original sign on to ours, so we altered it a little. I love how you can make the rules specific to your home and family. We also considered making one using the Fruit of the Spirit. I also like the fact that they are made from wood and paint that is original to our first home. So if and when we ever move, we’ll have a piece of our first little house to take with us.
Extreme sentimentality – it’s my speciality.
Oh, and as far as cost breakdown, this project cost us a whooping $7.00. The only thing I had to purchase were the oil paper stencils, which I can reuse for later projects.
I feel the wheels turning already.

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Welcome!

Hi! Welcome to Paintbrushes and Peonies! I needed a place to share all the ideas I have circling in my sleep-deprived brain, and gain great ideas from the people who come along and join me!
I'm a stay at home mom and the (sometimes) proud mother of two little ones ages four and two. I love my family, my home, and anything that relates to both of them! And I love creating beautiful living spaces for us to actually LIVE in! So not only will I share a lot of home design, but also ideas you can use to actually spend quality, intentional time with those people who are most important to you! Our families are the most important things in this temporal world, and our greatest investment! So I hope you feel inspired, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Kristen